The new DAS (Distributed Antenna Systems) Forum has named Allen Dixon its inaugural president. Dixon is market development manager for wireless networks at Corning Cable Systems.

The DAS Forum was established at the end of September as a neutral, non-profit, dedicated to the development of DAS technology. In a DAS installation, conventional tower sites are augmented by a series of smaller, lower-powered remote antenna nodes (RANs), which are placed on existing infrastructure (potential sites include light poles, utility poles and billboards). These smaller nodes provide a targeted cost-effective method to extend coverage in underserved areas. The RANs are backhauled over optical fiber.

The DAS Forum also elected Catherine Blue of Donohue & Blue as chair of its Advocacy Committee, Sunil Prasad of Sprint Nextel as chair of its Technology Committee, and Hunter Stuart of Crown Castle USA as chair of the Market Development and Communications Committee.

The DAS Forum was formed under the auspices of the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA), an association of companies that develop, manage, own and operate wireless communications towers.